Society's Child

Church spires in UK to boost cell phone, Wi-Fi signals

Agence France-Presse
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 16:14 UTC

© AFP/Paul Ellis
The Church of England has agreed to allow church spires across Britain to be used to boost broadband, mobile phone and WiFi connectivity in rural areas

Church spires across Britain will be used to boost broadband, mobile phone and WiFi connectivity in rural areas, under a deal struck between the government and the Church of England, it was announced Sunday.

"This agreement with the Church of England will mean that even a 15th century building can help make Britain fit for the future," said Matt Hancock, the minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The CoE has 16,000 church buildings and around 65 percent of its churches are located in rural communities, making them ideal hosts of key digital infrastructure.

There are currently more than 120 cases of broadband and mobile services being delivered from parish churches, from wireless transmitters fitted in spires and towers, to aerials, satellite dishes and fibre cables.

China reassigns 60,000 troops to plant trees as part of downsizing and to combat pollution

Asia Times
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 18:43 UTC

PLA troops plant trees in central China.

China will plant new forests covering an area of 84,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of Ireland, in 2018, as it aims to increase forest coverage to 23% of total landmass by the end of the decade, China Daily reported last week. The current forested area stands at 21%.

Meanwhile, a separate source in the Central Military Commission said a large regiment of the People's Liberation Army - in addition to the nation's armed police force, which has just been absorbed into the commission - have been withdrawn from northern border areas and tasked with a new mission: planting trees.

Comment: It's surely preferable to being laid off and, whilst the military is needed for a reason, it does show how the efficiency of the personnel can be utilised in other ways:

'I bled for 2.5 hours': Palestinian schoolteacher recounts savage IDF dog attack

RT
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 12:55 UTC

Mabruk Jarrar, 39, was savagely mauled by an Israeli military dog in a raid on his home in the West Bank. While the Israeli authorities insist this was an isolated incident, reports on the ground seem to suggest otherwise.

"I woke up when I heard explosions, I looked to my house door and it was destroyed by IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] bomb," Jarrar, a schoolteacher, told RT's Ruptly video agency from his hospital bed. As he gathered his family in the bedroom, he heard several more explosions, one of which took down the main house door before he was set upon by the dog.

"I saw one dog that started to attack me and bit my shoulder. Then it started to bite my leg. I was screaming," he continued. "After I was bleeding for more than two hours and a half, they took me to the hospital."

The savage mauling, which left Jarrar in need of a skin graft, took place on February 3, during an operation in Jarrar's home village of Burkin. The IDF were searching for the killer of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was allegedly murdered by one Ahmed Jarrar (Ahmed was later killed in a subsequent operation). During the raid, the soldiers also forced Jarrar's wife, mother and disabled sister to strip for a body search, and arrested his two brothers, one of whom remains in custody.

Haiti president tells Reuters many aid groups hid misconduct after earthquake - not just Oxfam

TeleSUR
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 15:02 UTC

© Reuters
A boy stands next to an Oxfam sign on a kiosk that was used to distribute water in Corail, a camp for people displaced after 2010 earthquake, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

President Moise called on Western governments and the international community to investigate their native aid organizations

Haiti's president said on Friday that sexual misconduct by staff of British charity Oxfam was only the tip of an "iceberg" and called for investigations into Doctors Without Borders and other aid organizations which came to the country after its 2010 earthquake.

"The Oxfam case is the visible part of the iceberg," President Jovenel Moise said in a phone interview with Reuters Friday. "It is not only Oxfam, there are other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in the same situation, but they hide the information internally."

The scandal has already shaken the aid sector, with Britain and the European Union reviewing Oxfam's funding.

Oxfam, one of the world's biggest disaster relief charities, apologized this week for unspecified sexual misconduct uncovered in a 2011 internal investigation.

"There should be an investigation into other organizations that have been working here since 2010," said Moise. "For example, Doctors Without Borders had to repatriate about 17 people for misconduct which was not explained," he added.

"We call on the Belgian and UK government to assume their responsibility, and we call on the whole international community to help make sure those guilty of such misconduct are punished, whether they are Belgian or of another nationality," Moise said. "The dignity of the Haitian people has been trampled on."

Comment: More on the Oxfam scandal:

When Mr Moise says 'other organizations', we wonder if he is thinking of the Clinton Foundation too:

US comedian Sarah Silverman on Twitter: Jews must stand up for Ahed Tamimi

TeleSUR
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 14:32 UTC

Silverman, who is a Jewish descendant, became the latest high-profile U.S. celebrity to lend her support to the imprisoned Palestinian girl.

U.S. Comedian Sarah Silverman, who comes from a Jewish family, has publically come out in support of iconic Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, making her the latest high profile celebrity to support the jailed 17-year-old.

"Jews have to stand up EVEN when - ESPECIALLY when - the wrongdoing is BY Jews/the Israeli government," Silverman, who supported progressive U.S. senator Bernie Sanders for president, wrote in a tweet in which she shared a link to Amnesty International's campaign calling on Israel to free Tamimi.

Ahed was arrested and indicted on 12 charges including assaulting an Israeli soldier and throwing stones after a video of her slapping a soldier in her home's yard went viral. It was revealed later that the Palestinian girl was upset after soldiers had shot her 14-year-old cousin in the face a day earlier.

Comment: What if the rogue state Israel becomes so unpopular around the world that its future as a nation becomes impossible?

The latest news on Palestinian hero Ahed Tamimi:

Sarah Silverman did well in supporting the right cause on this issue - but then again nobody is perfect.

Pakistan court sentences man to death for rape and murder of 7 year old girl Zainab Ansari

Guardian
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 14:20 UTC

© Mohsin Raza/Reuters
A girl holds a sign as she chants slogans with others to condemn the rape and killing of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari.

Imran Ali, 24, convicted over death of Zainab Ansari, has also been linked to death of seven other girls

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced a suspected serial killer to death for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, a prosecutor said.

The girl's murder ignited nationwide protests over allegations of government inaction, and a media campaign led to his arrest after years of him being on the loose.

Police found Zainab Ansari's body on a rubbish dump in Kasur district near the eastern city of Lahore in mid-January, four days after she was reported missing.

Residents of the area have said the murder was the 12th such incident in a year. Police investigators said later that they had matched DNA from eight girls' bodies, including Zainab's, with the convicted killer, Imran Ali, 24.

Comment: Previously on this horrific and sad case:

Hungarian town told it can't be European Capital of Culture because it's 'too white, not enough migrants'

Voice of Europe
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 12:55 UTC

The EU jury of the European Capital of Culture contest (EKF 2023), said that one of the participating towns is "too white and there are not enough migrants", Hungarian news website "888.hu" reports.

With only seven semi-finalists left, the Hungarian town of Székesfehérvár made a promotional film for the jury. The film shows the town's most beautiful places, a happy couple and some kids playing.

But the EU's jury rejected the submission of Székesfehérvár's debut film: "There are too many happy white people and crosses, and not enough migrants," the jury said.

Comment: Further reading:

Short seller tweets about taking down a CEO for alleged fraud and FBI shows up

Greg Farrell and Anders Melin
Bloomberg
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 13:08 UTC

Short-sellers aren't known for restraint and decorum, and that goes double on Twitter, where Marc Cohodes vowed to take down a CEO he accuses of fraud. "I will bury the little fella in a shoe box," Cohodes tweeted in October.

Weeks later, a black Ford Expedition pulled up to the short-seller's Sonoma County ranch. Two FBI agents emerged. They showed Cohodes a printout of his tweet and a second one that mentioned loaded guns. "Stop sending threatening tweets" about the CEO, one of the agents warned, or else.

The feds' Dec. 1 visit, which wasn't previously reported, is documented in a sheriff's report and described in a letter of complaint Cohodes's lawyer sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Comment: Yet when Nikolas Cruz posted twice on YouTube that he would become a school shooter the FBI failed to do a thing about it, in spite of his posts being reported and Cruz using his own name.

FBI admits it investigated YouTube Florida school shooting threat, but failed to identify author

Police assault innocent grandmother while conducting 'welfare check' on her family

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 12:55 UTC

A family has just learned the hard way what calling police to help a relative can often look like as their grandmother is now in the hospital after a welfare check. Showing their incompetence, the welfare check was for another family member but the police assaulted the innocent grandmother anyway.

Ashlee Hahn detailed the alleged assault in a dramatic Facebook post which showed the extent of her grandmother's injuries. Hahn's grandmother was hurt so bad during the check that she had to be hospitalized.

According to Hahn, her grandmother "is recovering from her fourth stroke and is confused, cognitively impaired & barely physically able to stand on her own because of uncontrollable shaking."

Sheriff updates reporters on Florida school shooting

RT
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 12:55 UTC

The Parkland, Florida school shooter never had a gas mask or grenades, authorities say. They are looking into previous calls about him to see if officials failed to act, after the FBI apologized for mishandling a tip.

On Friday, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and FBI Special Agent Rob Lasky briefed reporters on the investigation into the Valentine's Day massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

"The killer never was in possession of a gas mask or any type of smoke grenades," said Israel.

Comment: Further reading:

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Society's Child

Church spires in UK to boost cell phone, Wi-Fi signals

China reassigns 60,000 troops to plant trees as part of downsizing and to combat pollution

'I bled for 2.5 hours': Palestinian schoolteacher recounts savage IDF dog attack

Haiti president tells Reuters many aid groups hid misconduct after earthquake - not just Oxfam

US comedian Sarah Silverman on Twitter: Jews must stand up for Ahed Tamimi

Pakistan court sentences man to death for rape and murder of 7 year old girl Zainab Ansari

Hungarian town told it can't be European Capital of Culture because it's 'too white, not enough migrants'

Short seller tweets about taking down a CEO for alleged fraud and FBI shows up

Police assault innocent grandmother while conducting 'welfare check' on her family

Sheriff updates reporters on Florida school shooting

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